STILL
WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS:

SA
ATTITUDES TO IMMIGRANTS & IMMIGRATION

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

As South Africa grapples with the challenge of crafting new
immigration legislation, it is important to understand public
opinion on the issue. This report deals specifically with the
willingness of South Africans to welcome non-South Africans to
the country. Drawing on results of an extensive national survey
conducted in mid-1997 by the Southern African Migration Project
(SAMP), the report examines the attitudes of South Africans
towards immigrants and immigration policy, and explores the
implications of these attitudes for immigration reform and public
education.

The first, and perhaps most surprising, result of the research
is that only 1% of respondents in the survey cited immigration as
one of the three most important issues facing the country today.
Despite increased reports of anti-immigrant sentiment and
behaviour, and the high visibility of the issue in the press,
surveys from 1994 to 1997 demonstrate that immigration is not a
top priority for most South Africans. Also somewhat surprising,
given the nature of press reports on attitudes towards
immigrants, is the small, but important, cadre of South Africans
who support a more liberalized immigration regime and accept
immigrants and immigration. Although this group is clearly in the
minority, the fact that such a minority does exist - and that all
racial, economic, gender and ethnic groups are represented in it
- suggests that there is at least some support for a more
management and service-oriented approach to immigration policy in
the future.

But this potential for a new immigration regime in South
Africa is countered by some disturbing trends, the most notable
of which is that the majority of South Africans are resoundingly
negative towards any immigration policy that might welcome
newcomers. Twenty-five percent of South Africans want a total ban
on immigration and 45% support strict limits on the numbers of
immigrants allowed in. Only 17% would support a more flexible
policy tied to the availability of jobs, and only 6% support a
totally open policy of immigration. This is the highest level of
opposition to immigration recorded by any country in the world
where comparable questions have been asked.

While whites and blacks are equally opposed to immigration and
immigrants, the specific reasons differ. For both groups,
however, those who are most opposed to immigration and dislike
immigrants display various forms of xenophobia. Those who oppose
immigration are less inclined to accept diversity within South
Africa, believe that immigrants weaken society and threaten the
nation's health, and think that foreigners are unable to
assimilate into the South African nation.

All South Africans appear to have the same stereotypical image
of Southern Africans, citing job loss, crime and disease as the
negative consequences they fear from immigrants living in the
country. Interestingly, though, only 4% of respondents reported
that they actually interact with non-citizens from the region on
a regular basis, suggesting that these stereotypes may be the
product of second-hand (mis)information. Thus, it may be possible
to counteract such stereotypes with a well devised public
education programme.

Policy-makers therefore face a major challenge in terms of
fostering a climate that is more open to outsiders and their
presence in the country. South Africans display a modest
acceptance of diversity and have relatively favourable views of
different racial and ethnic groups within the country (Africans
more so than whites). But these favourable conditions for
peaceful diversity are offset by very negative attitudes toward
newcomers. What we have is an attitudinal profile that will not
be easily overcome. South Africans are unlikely to be quickly
persuaded to view non-citizens and immigrants more favourably
simply by providing more realistic, positive and accurate
information about what immigrants and migrants actually do, or
about their true impact on the country.

Nevertheless, creating a better public awareness about the
actual experiences and intentions of foreign citizens living in
South Africa (permanently and temporarily) is an expressed
intention of the South African government, many NGOs and the
Human Rights Commission. If South Africa is to address the
problem of xenophobia in the country adequately, and develop a
more pragmatic approach to cross-border movements in the region,
it is essential to have public support - or at least a softening
of public opposition - for these policies to take root.

Related SAMP surveys of migrants and immigrants clearly
demonstrate that the large majority of people who come to South
Africa have no desire to stay in the country permanently. More
importantly, those migrants who come from other African
countries, and those from neighbouring countries who have been to
South Africa in the past, generally contribute to the social and
economic fabric of the country, and are responsible, relatively
well-educated and law-abiding citizens of their own nation.
Information like this could help to ameliorate the anxiety that
South Africans appear to have about the impact of trying to
accommodate culturally different and "unassimilable"
people into the country.

Finally, public education should also concentrate on raising
the curtain of ignorance that South Africans have about people
from neighbouring countries: not only information about what
people from other African countries do while they are in South
Africa, but more and better information about "Africa"
itself - that great void in the public mind north of the Limpopo.
What are its cultures like, how do its peoples live? Only this
may eliminate the pervasive, yet fictional, popular notion that
"hordes" of northern barbarians have already invaded
the country, with millions more now massing on the borders.